Concerned mommy, my SIL accidentally elbowed my baby in head…

Hello, my SIL accidentally elbowed my sleeping babygirl on her head, and babygirl moved a little but didn’t wake up so assume she’s okay. Clumsy SIL kept apologizing and felt bad, I didn’t say anything since my babygirl seems fine and did not wake up from her nap. Its been 24 hours and babygirl seems fine, but still angers me how clumsy people can be. I have to be firm with visitors. Has this happened to anyone and should I still be concerned that babygirl was hit, although it’s been 24 hours?

@SamanthaLovesJames: I know you’re gonna worry about stuff, but the baby is fine. A bump not even hard enough to wake her up isn’t going to harm her. If she’s not lethargic or crying non-stop there’s nothing to worry about.

As a side note, my SIL always uses the term “babygirl” when refering to my niece ( now almost 3), and it has gotten to the point where my niece doesn’t respond to her name, but to “Babygirl”. I am sure it isn’t something that is a huge deal, but please use her name! lol. It is so frustrating to try and have an adult conversation where “babygirl” isn’t used!

One of my cousin’s close friends once dropped my cousin’s two year old on her head. Bumps and bruises and accidents are a part of growing up. And makes for great stories later (“Did you know that when you were just a teesy baby, your Aunt _____ elbowed you in the head? So every time you get a bad grade in math, you know whose fault it is!”)

It was an accident. She didn’t intentionally send her elbow zooming towards your child’s head. What is the point of being pissed when it was purely an accident? Clumsiness happens, accidents happens, kids get bumped, bruised, scraped and cut up all the time.

I find it a waste of time to be ‘pissed’ at something that you, nor anyone else in this world can control.

If your child didn’t even wake up after the bump, I’d wager she’s just fine. My father once full on swing hit me in the head with a crecent wrench when I was about 3 or 4. I had a bump the size of kentucky, but I’m none the worse for it. Prepare yourself that accidents happen and this isn’t going to be the last time that someone will accidentally hurt your child. Chances are you’ll do it, your SO will do it, and your own child will do it.

How are you going to be more firm with visitors? Ask them to keep their elbows tucked in at all times? I think since it was an accident and she apologized you really shouldn’t be angry about it :/ As other PPs have said, your daughter is fine if the bump didn’t even wake her up.

Babies are pretty resilient. It’s actually harder to break the bones of an infant than an adult because they are so flexible. So unless she smacked the heck out of it (which I have a hard time envisioning in an accidental elbowing) then I’m sure she’s totally fine. Especially if she’s acting normal and there’s no mark.

Also…give your SIL a break. It was an accident! Your kid is going to bump her noggin on a whole lot of things in her life. Heck. I had my hand slammed in a few car doors growing up just because life happens.

hopefully after reading the responses youll see that maybe you are overreacting a little bit. accidents happen, if there is no malice or extremely careless behaviour (ie tossing baby up and down) then its not fair to bear a grudge

it is easy to be overprotective of babies – but babies cry a LOT. if there was any real harm done, she’d have woken up AND she’d have shown some signs in the last 24 hours

at the end of the dya…how are you goign to be firm with visitors? ban them from touching the baby? repeatedly remind them to be careful? this shouldnt make you angry

When I was 8 and changing my newborn baby brother’s diaper, he rolled off the changing table and fell right on his head. He didn’t cry at all and he is now a (somewhat) normal 15 year old. Babies are resilient little buggers and will endure many bumps and spills in their lifetime, especially when learning to walk. Let go of your anger towards this innocent accident and laugh it off. Don’t turn into a helicopter parent.

I’m 30, my favorite cousin admitted to me a couple months ago that she dropped me when I was a baby.. Didn’t tell my mom because she was scared. I turned out just fine!! And honestly, think its hilarious! Btw, Im a teacher, have my masters and am going back for two post-masters degrees! 🙂

When my sister’s baby was around 1 1/2 years old (I think?), I tried to hold her… she wrenched her whole body back in a “hey you’re not my mommy” body jerk and then I lost grip of her. She completely and totally smacked her head on the coffee table. And then began to scream and scream and scream. She had a lump, but was fine. At least THAT didn’t happen. I didn’t want to hold ANY babies for a very long time after that.

Aren’t you the poster who bent over while pregnant and thought you smashed your baby? Babies are a lot tougher than a lot of people give them credit for. Her bones at this point are mostly cartilage, so there’s a certain amount of flexibility built in.